Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 91 A guilty conscience
Chaolu was extremely surprised to hear what Liu said.

"Mother, have you finally figured it out?!"

Mrs. Liu knew what her daughter was thinking, and explained softly, "In fact, I have wanted to divorce Chao Yuanzhi for a long time, but I know Chao Yuanzhi will definitely not agree. He would rather I die than let me leave the Chao Mansion. More importantly, I can't bear to leave you. I can't leave you alone in the Chao family..."

Chaolu said anxiously: "Don't worry about me, mother. I am already an adult. I can take care of myself. You don't have to compromise for me."

Liu smiled helplessly and reached out to help her daughter smooth down the hair around her ears: "Silly child, you are my daughter, how could I not care about you?"

Chaolu's eyes suddenly turned red: "I am the one who has dragged down my mother."

"That's not the case. It's because of you that my life has hope. Even if I'm hurt, as long as I see your smile, I don't feel the pain anymore."

Chaolu couldn't hold back any longer and threw herself into Liu's arms, choking with sobs and calling out, "Mother, Mother!"

Mrs. Liu patted her daughter's back gently and soothed her softly, "Don't cry. There are outsiders watching here. Don't let others laugh at you."

Chaolu quickly stopped crying.

She wiped her face with an embroidered handkerchief and apologized to Yan Ciwan and the others embarrassedly.

"I'm sorry, I'm so useless and I cry at the slightest provocation."

Yan Ciwan showed envy: "You are so lucky to have your mother by your side. It would be great if my mother was here too."

Li Chengge sighed: "I haven't seen my mother for a long time. I miss her so much."

Xiao Wang said calmly: "I don't even know what my mother looks like."

Chaolu: “…”

She lowered her head in dismay and apologized again: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten carried away and made you all unhappy."

Yan Ciwan looked at her with amusement: "Why do you always apologize? You didn't do anything wrong. Besides, we are not unhappy. You and your wife have gone through so many hardships. Now you can finally get rid of the suffering and start a new life. I am really happy for you."

Xiao Wang said considerately: "If Auntie needs to write a divorce letter, I can do it for her."

Li Chengge said with a smile: "My cousin writes very well. It's rare for him to take the initiative to write for others. Madam, don't miss this great opportunity. Feel free to use him!"

Liu said happily, "Then I'll have to trouble Xiao Liulang to take care of it."

The night wind blew and she felt a little cold. She lowered her head, covered her lips and coughed softly.

Chaolu was very nervous: "Mother, your body has not fully recovered yet. You can't catch a cold. I will take you back to your room."

Xiao Wang and Li Chengge said goodbye at the right time.

Liu suggested, "It's already very late. You should not go back to the official post. Stay in the palace tonight. Although our servants have been taken away, there are still many guest rooms. You can choose any room you like to stay in."

Li Chengge was indeed very sleepy and was too lazy to rush back to the government post, so he accepted Liu's kindness.

He left with Xiao Wang, while Chaolu and Yan Ciwan helped Liu back to her room to rest. Liu took off her coat, let her hair down, and lay on the bed, while Chaolu helped her cover herself with the quilt.

After finishing all this, Chaolu said to Yan Ciwan: "I'll take you to the guest room."

Yan Ciwan said no, she knew how to go, then she looked at Liu on the bed and asked, "Madam, I have something I want to ask you."

Liu gestured for her to ask.

"Regarding the nameless tablet in the secret compartment of the document cabinet, do you know its origin?"

Liu shook her head and said, "I don't know. The tablet was empty without any words written on it. Chao Yuanzhi never took it out. If I hadn't secretly found the secret compartment, I wouldn't have known that there was such a strange tablet hidden in my house."

"What about the Sutra of Rebirth? Have you ever opened it and read it?"

"I was afraid of being discovered, so I could only quickly read two pages. They were all scriptures. Judging from the handwriting, they should be written by Chao Yuanzhi. He secretly hid a tablet and also hand-copied a copy of the "Rebirth Sutra". Maybe he was going to commemorate someone."

Chaolu's curiosity was aroused: "Who is father going to worship? Is it Fang who was killed by him?"

Yan Ciwan thought of Chao Yuanzhi's expression when he talked about Fang's death. He tried his best to excuse himself and used all his sweet words and flattering words. There was no sign of guilt or regret on his part.

How could he, who was so unrepentant, secretly pay homage to Fang and even hand-copy the entire "Rebirth Sutra" for her?
Yan Ciwan asked again: "Where are Chao Yuanzhi's parents?"

Mrs. Liu understood what she meant and said, "Chao Yuanzhi's parents have both passed away. They died of old age. There are tablets for them at home. Every year during the Qingming Festival and the Zhongyuan Festival, our whole family would worship them together. That nameless tablet should not be for the Chao family's parents."

"Does he have any brothers or sisters?"

"He is the only son in the family. He used to have two sisters, who have already married and had children. They would exchange gifts during festivals, but they didn't have much contact with each other."

Yan Ciwan couldn't understand, apart from his closest family members, who else could make Chao Yuanzhi go to such great lengths to secretly pay tribute to him?

She suddenly remembered what Chaolu had said before. After abducting Chaolu, the inner guards asked her whether Chao Yuanzhi had any secret friends.
Could it be that the secret friend that Neiwei mentioned is related to the nameless tablet hidden in the secret compartment?

Yan Ciwan asked, "Does Chao Yuanzhi have any old friends?"

Liu thought about it carefully: "Chao Yuanzhi used to have a few good friends, but since we came to Xiangzhou, Chao Yuanzhi has lost contact with all his former friends. On weekdays, he rarely goes out to socialize with people unless it is necessary. I always feel that he seems to be afraid of something?"

Yan Ciwan hurriedly asked: "How did you feel it?"

"He drank a little once and fell asleep and had a dream. He kept muttering things like, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, don't come looking for me, let me go. When he woke up, I asked him what he dreamed about and why he was so scared. But he suddenly changed his expression, grabbed my neck, and asked me what else I heard. I was scared and begged him desperately. Although he let me go, he stared at me with a terrifying look for a long time, which made me terrified all day."

When Liu thought about what happened that day, she still felt a lingering fear and her face turned a little paler.

Chaolu held Liu's hand tightly, her eyes full of worry and concern.

After her emotions had stabilized, Liu continued.

"Since that time, Chao Yuanzhi has been controlling me more strictly. He doesn't allow me to go out casually or have too much contact with outsiders. I always feel that he is afraid that I will disclose his affairs to outsiders. His guilty look made me suspicious. I secretly investigated at home, wanting to know what bad things he had done in the past that made him so scared? It happened that Chao Yue's wet nurse came to ask for help at that time..."

(End of this chapter)